So why do we need to fit headlamp deflectors, carry spare bulbs, fluorescent vests etc..? Or don't we?
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EU laws have prevented the British Government from compelling foreign lorries to fit mirrors which would radically cut road accidents in the UK.
By David Millward, Transport Editor www.telegraph.co.uk
Last Updated: 5:34PM GMT 17 Dec 2008
A simple device known as a Fresnel lens would eliminate blind spots experienced by foreign heavy goods vehicle drivers.
Government figures have shown that foreign hauliers are eight times more likely to be involved in a serious or fatal accident than their British counterparts on UK roads.
The potential of the lenses is recognized by the Department for Transport, which has handed out nearly 200,000 lenses to left-hand-drive lorries as they arrive at British ports.
But the Government is powerless to compel foreign drivers to use them.
Jim Fitzpatrick, a transport minister, admitted that the Government?s hands were tied in a letter to John Baron, Tory MP for Billericay.
?We are bound by international convention to accept visiting foreign vehicles on our roads, provided they comply with internationally agreed construction and safety requirements,? the minister wrote.
?Our international obligations do not allow us to require unilaterally any additional components on these visiting vehicles.?
Mr Baron believes that the mirrors should be made compulsory and said ministers had failed to take a strong enough stand.
?The Government is taking only limited steps to combat this problem. But it could solve the problem in one go by simply making Fresnel mirrors compulsory.
?By refusing to do so, the Government is putting motorist?s lives unnecessarily at risk.
?I think the Government is hiding behind EU regulations. We have a problem here and it is incumbent on ministers to do something.
?They should be pushing for an EU regulation to make Fresnel lenses compulsory on all lorries.?
There has been mounting concern among road safety groups about the dangers posed by foreign lorries which only account for one per cent of HGVs on Britain?s roads.
Not only do some drivers have problems coping with driving on the ?wrong side? of the road, but spot checks have shown that one in five foreign HGVs are not roadworthy.
?With official statistics showing that foreign lorries are involved in about 30 fatal accidents a year, there is a need to do something about this,? said Andrew Howard, the AA?s head of road safety.
?I think perhaps we should meet them half way, by providing them at the port and expecting foreigners to fit them,? said Andrew Howard, the AA?s head of road safety.
?At the same time this should also happen at continental ports when British lorries arrive.?
The position also alarmed Robert Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.
?We know these mirrors are being given out to foreign lorry drivers at ports.
?This is to ensure that they can see when they are pulling out or to make sure they don?t hit a cyclist when turning a corner.
?I am saddened that the single market requirements are preventing us from improving safety of foreign lorries driving on British roads and vice versa.?
A spokesman for the Department for Transport defended the Government?s handling of foreign lorries arriving in Britain.
?We have distributed fresnel lenses to left-hand drive trucks entering the country.
? We are sharing the evidence of this work with European counterparts to investigate how it can be best used to direct policy on HGV design and use."
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-tran.../
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But we could get plod to pull and check over as many foreign lorries as they can when in the UK for a long and detailed check, perhaps leaving the ones without the said blind spot device till last ?
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Can't believe that i am only the second person to reply, and the first reply has taken the words right out of my mouth! It's not rocket science is it MrX? the trucks without these mirrors would soon get the message wouldn't they ?
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Do what the French do. Suit themselves. We should stop being so timid.
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Yes, our spineless poititians doing exactly as they are told by the EU, pity they are not so keen to do what many UK voters want.
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Fresnel lens may be a good idea in theory, but lets take another look.
As usual we the gullible British taxpayer is providing these lenses free...to foreign trucks entering at British ports, taxpayer subsidising the foreign competition, same as we don't charge foreign trucks for using our roads at all, apart from any toll roads they may use.
Forgetting that for a minute, why should we provide equipment to help the foreign operator do the job they should be qualified and equipped to do anyway.
These lenses only help a driver who actually uses the things and cares anyway, and a competent driver would already have his vehicle equipped with the necessary mirrors and lenses to do his job properly, the very fact they don't already have them speaks volumes.
Properly adjusted mirrors kept clean, together with the windows eliminates all blind spots, i have mine set to cover all angles on the opposite side, every driver should do this as a matter of course anyway, it is part of one's responsibility.
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I think that the lack of replies refects our realisation that there is nothing we can do prevent the juggernaut of EU carp that we have to put up with! I notice that our MEPs have just voted to prevent UK opting out of the Working Hours Directive so nobody can legally work more than 48 hours a week. This is pretty rich when we are being told we have got to work harder/longer/for less pay to keep out heads above water and out of debt and this is being foisted on us by a bunch of £???,??? a year wasters who we are paying to keep in Brussels and Strasbourg. Respect No. Scorn and derision Unlimited
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I notice that our MEPs have just voted to prevent UK opting out of the
Surely not UKIP's MEP's AS, they want Britain independent again.;)
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Why can't UK get out of EU?
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Why can't UK get out of EU?
Because only 1 party is committed to that and they are not allowed a platform.
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"Because only 1 party is committed to that and they are not allowed a platform. "
I thought this was a thread on blind spot mirrors and not UKIP?
Back to the motoring discussion. Rob (Moderator)
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I thought this was a thread on blind spot mirrors and not UKIP? Back to the motoring discussion. Rob (Moderator)
Apologies Rob, i was replying to a question, and the party wasn't the one you mentioned.
But our representatives either doing their jobs or not as the case may be do have an effect on our motoring and therefore politics sometimes does cross over into the discussion.
gb (doddering old fool..;)
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Rob the moderator's motoring doesnt seem to be affected by polititians, wish mine wasnt. :)
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My motoring might be affected a great deal by politics as is all motoring. And we cannot avoid this. But the site is not a political channel. We'd prefer the thread did not become a political discussion about parties. It was about blindspot mirrors ;-)
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20 years ago my brother's car was hit by a LHD HGV on the M25 - moving from lane 1 to lane 2 - into roadspace already ccupied. The first I heard was when yet another brother 'phoned me to say he'd seen the car's wreckage on the roadside. Number plates don't lie.
Lucky for the accident victim, the MR2 spun round and did not flip over, so he surviced with cuts & bruises.
This problem with blind spots is not new.
If the law requires drivers to adapt their vehicles so their headlamps do not blind oncome vehicles when overseas, or cars to carry high viz jackets etc, all in the name of safety, then in the name of safety all LHD HGV's should be adapted to ensure proper visability when driving on the left in the UK.
This is a road safety issue, if the drivers cannot see in safety to drive in UK, then they should not continue with their journeys.
Now who says the EC is against road safety in the UK?
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For the record - it cuts both ways, and lorries aren't the only culprits! (This from six years ago; I doubt things have changed much since)
tinyurl.com/4ehky7
In the interests of safety, I suggest the following EU laws be passed immediately:
* Offside fresnel lenses or complete set of mirrors to be fitted to ALL HGVs throughout the EU, within one month, and no exceptions.
Two very simple measures to make foreign drivers more "visible" to the locals:
* Large reflective circular sticker to be fixed to the rear of all foreign vehicles and all (hire) cars being driven by foreigners. I suggest a steering wheel shape with the letters LHD (or RHD), placed behind the driver, e.g. a British driver in France has the sticker on the right to warn that that is the driver's side.
* Foreign drivers to keep headlights on at all times.
* Any nervous first time foreign drivers (and anyone else who so wishes) to be allowed to display L plates whilst abroad, although they would be much better off staying in bed. (Novice drivers in Spain have to display a white on green L plate for the first year.)
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I like all of Bilboman's suggestions, and wish they could be implemented yesterday.
But it's still a really bad idea to have a situation where domestic deliveries are done by foreign trucks because of tax differences. It would be much better to move over to a system of charging trucks by the mile for their use of the roads, and levying that tax on all vehicles using UK roads, regardless of their country of origin.
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On Tuesday this week (20/1/2009) I was in lane 2 of the M6 coming home from work. I just about passed a Czech HGV when it pulled from lane one into lane 2. It clipped the back of my car, spun me at right angles to the road and carried on driving.
I was honking my horn, trying to stear out of it, but there was nothing I could do. H eventually he realised and stopped, he had to reverse off my car to let my passenger out.
Fortuantely nobody was hurt, looks like my car is a write-off , but hell, that was the scariest moment of my life. What if I had a smaller car, or the truck was older and didnt have the latest spreader bar on the front. Even wose, what if I was on a moterbike.
I had a very lucky escape, but it clearly highlights the blindspot problem. Forget the competition side of things for a moment, the point that cannot be argued is the safety aspect!
I really thought I was going to be crushed by the HGV's if it had gone on moment longer my tyres would have burst, my car likely rolled then who knows what. The same applies to UK HGV's going over to the continent. It seems such a small cost for the extra mirrors, even if some dont use them well, most would, why wouldn't they!
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